No Brainer

Surprising that this hasn't made front pages across America (and the world): Dick Cheney has admitted that the United States has subjected captured al-Qaeda operatives to water-boarding. To the Vice-President of the World's only superpower, "It's a no-brainer for me."

According to Vice, water-boarding, which induces the sensation that the subject is on the verge of drowning is not torture. Maybe we should try it on his wife and daughters and see if that changes his opinion.

(The link contains an illustration of water-boarding. The form shown is actually a rather "benign" form of this practice--I have read accounts of water-boarding that is much more brutal and carries a substantial risk of actually drowning the victim.)

For some perspective, back around 1960 I recall reading--it seems to have been in a Time-Life publication--of how Dostoevsky was arrested by the Czar's police, then taken from his cell, blindfolded, tied to a stake and made to listen to the preparations of the firing squad, following which he was made to wait for the fatal fusillade. After some time (maybe 20-30 minutes), he was untied and returned to his cell. The article left no doubt that such treatment constituted torture.